Compressor Concepts and Terms

This section covers some common terms that you may encounter as you use Compressor.

The following diagram illustrates how the standard Compressor transcoding process works. The largest transcoding component is a batch. The batch represents all the components needed to transcode your current media. It must contain one or more jobs. A job consists of at least one source media file with one or more targets, each with a setting and a destination associated with it. After the transcoding process, the resulting file is known as the output media file. One output media file is created for each setting assigned to a source media file.

In the illustration below, the batch contains two source media files, each of which is a job containing two targets (sets of a setting and destination). The total number of output files created by transcoding this batch will be four: Job 1 will create two output media files, as will Job 2.

Codec: Short for COmpression/DECompression. A mathematical model for reducing the data of a source media file.

File Format: The output format you use to transcode your source media file.

Group: Contains designated settings placed into a folder in the Settings tab. Groups help you organize your settings and can simplify the job creation process.

Transcoding: The process of converting files from their original format into output files ready for distribution in another format. Closely related terms include compression, which specifically refers to data reduction, and encoding, a term that is essentially synonymous with transcoding, but does not emphasize the conversion aspect.

Source media file: The transcoding process always starts with a source media file, which is the file intended for transcoding in its original form. Source media files are always one of the following.

Movies: Containing video, audio, and other data (such as markers)

Stills: Used as part of a sequence of still images for certain video productions

QuickTime: QuickTime is cross-platform multimedia technology which allows Mac OS and Windows applications to capture and play back video, audio, and still-image files. QuickTime files can contain many different kinds of media and codecs. Codecs give instructions to QuickTime on how to play back the media.

A typical Compressor transcoding process consists of the following components.

Setting: Once you have imported your source media file, you must assign one or more settings to it. A setting is a combination of transcode attributes, such as output format, filter, and geometry settings, that are applied to the source media file during the transcoding process.

Destination: A destination also needs to be assigned to the source media file. This is the location where your transcoded media file is stored. You can either use the default destination called Source (the same folder the source media file is in), or you can designate any location to which you have full access. You can also change the default destination in Compressor preferences. The destination also controls how the transcoded media file is named.

Target: A blueprint for creating an output media file containing a setting, a destination, and an output filename.

Job: Once you assign one or more targets to the source media file, it becomes a job, and is ready to be transcoded.

Batch: A batch consists of one or more jobs that are processed at one time. All jobs contained within the batch are submitted collectively when you click the Submit button.

Output media file: The transcoded media files created after the batch is submitted and processed are called output media files. An output media file is the result of a successfully transcoded source media file (containing one setting and destination). You can create as many output media files as there are different settings applied to the various source media files in the batch.